Andy Halliday admits failing to properly research Azerbaijan move

Returning Rangers midfielder Andy Halliday has admitted it was a mistake to move to Azerbaijan, revealing that he failed to properly research the club beforehand.

Andy Halliday will have a chance to force himself back into the Rangers team. Picture: SNS

Gabala snapped up the 26-year-old when he became surplus to requirements under previous boss Pedro Caixinha.

It was initially supposed to be a season-long loan, though director of football Mark Allen was able to secure an early recall for the player in the January window.

Andy Halliday will have a chance to force himself back into the Rangers team. Picture: SNS

Upon arriving at Gabala, Halliday was shocked to find the club didn’t have a proper training facility.

He also soon discovered that the Azerbaijan top flight had a restriction on the amount of foreign players allowed in any one game. A limit of five is in place; Galaba had over double that number of non-Azerbaijani nationals in their squad.

He said: “I found out five days into the loan that there was a foreigner rule. We had 12, including myself but we could only play five.

“That was something I never knew about before I went.

Andy Halliday will have a chance to force himself back into the Rangers team. Picture: SNS

“So before our second leg against Panathinaikos, the foreign lads were pretty much pulled into a room and told, ‘win this game or you won’t play’.

“I just didn’t know what the set-up was like. They didn’t have a training ground so you had to eat for yourself and I’m not a great cook! But listen, I’m not making excuses. It was my mistake, I should have done more research to know all that before I went.”